Evan B. Lefsky

A senior associate with PCG Education, Dr. Lefsky works jointly with the firm's northeast and southeast offices on EdPlan™ student success planning projects. He also works with the NJ SMART growth model project. He has more than 17 years of experience working and teaching in the education field at both the K-12 and college levels.

• Adolescent literacy
• Content/disciplinary literacy
• Instructional leadership
• Response to Intervention (RtI)
• Teacher professional development
• Literacy coaching, education policy
• Science, Technology
• Engineering and Math (STEM) literacy

Prior to joining PCG Education in 2011, Dr. Lefsky was School Improvement Grant (SIG) Turnaround Leader and Director of Secondary Education with Lake County Schools (FL). As the Turnaround Leader, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of turnaround efforts at a persistently lowest-achieving high school. In his role as Director of Secondary Education, he coordinated curriculum and instruction for 17 middle and high schools in the 19th largest school district in Florida with a total population of more than 41,000 students. He was responsible for federal grants for Title II, Part A and Smaller Learning Communities (SLC). He was also District Director for Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which focuses on closing the achievement gap and increasing the college-going rate for students from low income and minority families. Additionally, he was responsible for management of the Lake County Virtual School. Evan also served as a literacy coach, reading specialist, and English teacher in Lake County.

Dr. Lefsky formerly served in the Florida Department of Education (FL DOE) as Executive Director of Just Read, Florida!, the statewide content and policy office in the area of reading and literacy. He managed the federal Reading First grant totaling more than $300 million, a $130 million state reading budget, and ten grant programs to a variety of private organizations and public state agencies. He was responsible for creating and assisting in the implementation of policies carried out through State Board of Education rule and Florida statute. At FL DOE, he also served as the Director of Secondary Reading, developing reading policy for the state of Florida related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. He assisted school districts in the implementation of reading policy through development of curriculum, assessment, and professional learning tools. He also managed a $20 million grant funding reading coaches in middle and high schools across the state.

Dr. Lefsky frequently serves on state and federal commissions and task forces focused on issues pertaining to adolescent literacy and education policy. He has worked with the National Governors Association (NGA), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). He has presented at more than 30 conferences, including the International Reading Association (IRA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), National Reading Conference (NRC), and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Dr. Lefsky is the current Vice-President of the Florida Reading Association.

Dr. Lefsky earned a Ph. D. in curriculum and instruction and an Educational Specialist degree in Reading at the University of Florida. He received a Master of Education degree in English Language Arts Education from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor of Science in English Education from Florida State University.

Chapters

Lefsky, E.B. (2009). Establishing support at the state level. In K. Froelich and E. Puig, The literacy leadership team: Sustaining and expanding success. Columbus, OH: Allyn Bacon.

Matheson, D., Lefsky, E., & Allington, R. (2009). Engaging adolescents in thoughtful literacy practices. In K.D. Wood and W.E. Blanton (Eds.). Promoting literacy with adolescent learners: Research-based instruction. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Articles

Foorman, B., Lefsky, E., Petscher, Y., Toste, J. (2010). Reading First in Florida: Five years of improvement. Journal of Literacy Research.

Lang, L., Torgesen, J., Vogel, B., Chanter, C., Lefsky, E., Petscher, Y. (2009). Exploring the relative effectiveness of reading interventions for high school students. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Committee Publications

Reading at Risk: The State Response to the Crisis in Adolescent Literacy (National Association of State Boards of Education)

A CRITICAL MISSION: Making Adolescent Reading an Immediate Priority in SREB States (Southern Regional Education Board)

 

   To learn more about Evan B. Lefsky or other PCG Education Subject Matter Experts, contact us at
   pcgeducation@publicconsultinggroup.com or 1-800-210-6113.